Methods, systems and computer program products for inventory reconciliation

• US 20060059262A1
• Filed: 10/27/2004
• Published: 03/16/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Adkinson, Timothy K., Moering, Carl E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,860,221 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0029 Provisions for intelligent networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/0087 Network testing or monitoring arrangements

Abstract

Network asset recovery includes querying assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network and obtaining inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database. The current inventory is compared with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets. Asset type need data is obtained from a demand database and at least one of the non-utilized assets is identified for recovery based on the obtained asset type need data. The assets may be intelligent network elements and the communications network may be a telecommunications network.

Claims

17. A method for network asset recovery comprising:

querying assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network and an identification of which of the assets on the communications network has a port in service;

obtaining inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database;

comparing the current inventory and identification of which assets on the communications network has a port in service with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets; and

identifying at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the method further comprises obtaining an identification of ones of the assets scheduled to be utilized and wherein comparing the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database further comprises identifying assets that are not currently utilized as non-utilized assets only if they are not scheduled to be utilized.

20. The method of claim 18 further comprising:

automatically generating a work order requesting recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets; and

communicating the generated work order to a work force control system.

21. The method of claim 20 further comprising:

obtaining an identification of ones of the assets scheduled to be utilized;

determining if the work order requesting recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets requests recovery of one of the assets scheduled to be utilized; and

updating the work order to cancel requesting recovery of the one of the assets scheduled to be utilized if the work order requests recovery of the one of the assets scheduled to be utilized.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein querying assets on the communications network comprises determining active services supported by the assets and wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining billing information associated with the communications network that identifies valid services from a billing database; and

comparing the identified valid services and the determined active services to identify active services not corresponding to a valid service.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

terminating an active service not corresponding to a valid service;

or

updating the billing database to incorporate an active service not corresponding to a valid service.

24. The method of claim 18 wherein the inventory management database comprises a plurality of inventory management databases including an interoffice network database and an outside plant database and wherein updating the inventory management database comprises updating each of the inventory management databases based on the current inventory.

25. A method for network asset revenue recovery comprising:

querying assets on a communications network to determine active services supported by the assets;

obtaining billing information associated with the communications network that identifies valid services from a billing database;

comparing the identified valid services and the determined active services to identify active services not corresponding to a valid service; and

reconciling active services not corresponding to a valid service.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein reconciling comprises:

terminating an active service not corresponding to a valid service;

or updating the billing database to incorporate an active service not corresponding to a valid service.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

28. A method for network asset inventory reconciliation comprising:

querying assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network;

obtaining inventory data for the communications network from an interoffice network database;

obtaining inventory data for the communications network from an outside plant database; and

reconciling the inventory data from the interoffice network database and the outside plant database to the current inventory.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the outside plant database comprises a database of assets on an outside plant portion of the communications network and a customer assignment database associating particular customers with an asset on the outside plant portion of the communications network.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

31. A method for network asset recovery comprising:

querying assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network;

obtaining inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database;

comparing the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets;

identifying at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery;

automatically generating a work order requesting recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets; and

communicating the generated work order to a work force control system.

1. A method for network asset recovery comprising:

querying assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network;

obtaining inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database;

comparing the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets;

obtaining asset type need data from a demand database; and

identifying at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery based on the obtained asset type need data.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein querying assets comprises determining which of the assets are currently utilized.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein determining which of the assets are currently utilized comprises determining which of the assets has a port in service.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the method further comprises obtaining an identification of ones of the assets scheduled to be utilized and wherein comparing the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database further comprises identifying assets that are not currently utilized as non-utilized assets only if they are not scheduled to be utilized.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

automatically generating a work order requesting recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets; and

communicating the generated work order to a work force control system.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

obtaining an identification of ones of the assets scheduled to be utilized;

determining if the work order requesting recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets requests recovery of one of the assets scheduled to be utilized; and

updating the work order to cancel requesting recovery of the one of the assets scheduled to be utilized if the work order requests recovery of the one of the assets scheduled to be utilized.

8. The method of claim 2 wherein querying assets on the communications network comprises determining active services supported by the assets and wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining billing information associated with the communications network that identifies valid services from a billing database; and

comparing the identified valid services and the determined active services to identify active services not corresponding to a valid service.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

terminating an active service not corresponding to a valid service;

or

updating the billing database to incorporate an active service not corresponding to a valid service.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising updating the inventory management database based on the current inventory.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the inventory management database comprises an interoffice network database.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the inventory management database comprises a plurality of inventory management databases including an interoffice network database and an outside plant database and wherein updating the inventory management database comprises updating each of the inventory management databases based on the current inventory.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the outside plant database comprises a database of assets on an outside plant portion of the communications network and a customer assignment database associating particular customers with an asset on the outside plant portion of the communications network.

14. The method of claim 2 wherein identifying at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery is followed by monitoring recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets by querying the at least one of the non-utilized assets to determine if it remains on the communications network at a determined time after identifying the at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein querying assets comprises determining a serial number associated with the assets and wherein the method further comprises:

querying a product notification database to receive a notification of a serial number of an asset having a defect; and

automatically generating a work order requesting recovery of the asset having a defect responsive to the notification.

16. The method of claim 2 further comprising:

receiving a request to set an option of a plurality of the assets on the communications network; and

automatically querying the plurality of assets to set the option responsive the received request to set an option.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the method further comprises obtaining an identification of ones of the assets scheduled to be utilized and wherein comparing the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database further comprises identifying assets that are not currently utilized as non-utilized assets only if they are not scheduled to be utilized.

34. The method of claim 32 wherein querying assets on the communications network comprises determining active services supported by the assets and wherein the method further comprises:

obtaining billing information associated with the communications network that identifies valid services from a billing database; and

comparing the identified valid services and the determined active services to identify active services not corresponding to a valid service.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising:

terminating an active service not corresponding to a valid service;

or

updating the billing database to incorporate an active service not corresponding to a valid service.

33-1. The method of claim 32 further comprising:

obtaining an identification of ones of the assets scheduled to be utilized;

determining if the work order requesting recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets requests recovery of one of the assets scheduled to be utilized; and

updating the work order to cancel requesting recovery of the one of the assets scheduled to be utilized if the work order requests recovery of the one of the assets scheduled to be utilized.

36. A method for updating intelligent network elements on a telecommunications network, comprising:

receiving a request to set an option of a plurality of the assets on the communications network; and

automatically querying the plurality of assets to set the option responsive the received request to set an option.

37. A method for recovery of intelligent network elements on a telecommunications network, comprising:

querying the intelligent network elements to determine a serial number associated with the intelligent network elements;

querying a product notification database to receive a notification of a serial number of an intelligent network element having a defect; and

automatically generating a work order requesting recovery of the intelligent network element having a defect responsive to the notification.

38. A communications network asset recovery system comprising:

an asset query module configured to query network assets on the communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network;

an inventory database query module configured to obtain inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database;

a demand database query module configured to obtain asset type need data from a demand database; and

a reconciliation module configured to compare the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets and identify at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery based on the obtained asset type need data.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

40. A communications network asset recovery system, comprising:

an asset query module configured to query assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network and an identification of which of the assets on the communications network has a port in service;

an inventory database query module configured to obtain inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database; and

a reconciliation module configured to compare the current inventory and identification of which assets on the communications network has a port in service with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets and to identifying at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

42. A network asset revenue recovery system, comprising:

an asset query module configured to query assets on a communications network to determining active services supported by the assets;

a billing query module configured to obtain billing information associated with the communications network that identifies valid services from a billing database; and

a reconciliation module configured to compare the identified valid services and the determined active services to identify active services not corresponding to a valid service and to reconciling any active services not corresponding to a valid service.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein the reconciliation module is configured to terminate an active service not corresponding to a valid service or update the billing database to incorporate an active service not corresponding to a valid service.

44. The system of claim 43 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

45. A network asset inventory reconciliation system, comprising:

an asset query module configured to query assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network;

an inventory database query module configured to obtain inventory data for the communications network from an interoffice network database;

an inventory database query module configured to obtain inventory data for the communications network from an outside plant database; and

a reconciliation module configured to reconcile the inventory data from the interoffice network database and the outside plant database to the current inventory.

46. The system of claim 45 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

47. A network asset recovery system, comprising:

an asset query module configured to query assets on a communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network;

an inventory database query module configured to obtain inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database;

a reconciliation module configured to compare the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets, identifying at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery and automatically generate a work order requesting recovery of the at least one of the non-utilized assets; and

a communication module configured to communicate the generated work order to a work force control system.

48. The system of claim 47 wherein the assets comprise intelligent network elements and wherein the communications network comprises a telecommunications network.

49. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to query network assets on the communications network to obtain a current inventory of the assets on the communications network;

computer-readable program code that is configured to obtain inventory data for the communications network from an inventory management database;

computer-readable program code that is configured to obtain asset type need data from a demand database; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to compare the current inventory with the inventory data from the inventory management database to identify a plurality of non-utilized assets and identify at least one of the non-utilized assets for recovery based on the obtained asset type need data.

50. A computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:

computer-readable program code that is configured to query assets on a communications network to determining active services supported by the assets;

computer-readable program code that is configured to obtain billing information associated with the communications network that identifies valid services from a billing database; and

computer-readable program code that is configured to compare the identified valid services and the determined active services to identify active services not corresponding to a valid service and to reconciling any active services not corresponding to a valid service.